The invention generally relates to devices for grooming the hair, fur, or coat of animals, as well as human hair, and the hair, fur, or coat other objects including non-living objects, such as stuffed animals or toy animals, for example, and more particularly relates to a self-ejecting, stripping pet grooming device for rapidly grooming the hair, fur, or coat of animals or other objects, as well as human hair.
Devices are known for grooming the hair, fur, or coat of animals, commonly household pets such as a cat or a dog but also for other non-household animals such as horses. One of the purposes of such devices is to remove loose hair or de-shed, for example to reduce shedding in which the loose hair would otherwise fall off in unwanted places, such as around the house. Such devices can also be used to de-tangle hair for purposes of improving appearance and comfort. Some of these devices may also trim or cut non-loose hair. One group of currently available devices resemble a human hair brush or rake on a stick having combing elements mounted together on one end of an elongated handle to form a pet engaging portion.
A problem with such currently available de-shedding devices is that after a few strokes over the coat of the animal with such devices, the buildup of removed hair must be manually teased from the comb or the efficiency of the grooming process will diminish. Another problem with currently available de-shedding devices is that they do not contain a bag, compartment, or the like, to store removed hair during a grooming session, other than at the base of the teeth or on the combing elements themselves. Typically this involves manually pulling hair or fur from the teeth projecting from the comb. In addition, if the comb teeth or brush bristles are buried under already removed hair, they cannot pick up and pull additional loose strands of hair as easily. Further, cleaning the comb or brush manually between strokes slows down the grooming process, and creates the opportunity for a live animal, such as a cat, dog, horse, sheep, for example, to run away when the brushing stops while the buildup of hair is removed by the groomer.
Some de-shedding devices also include a blade region, for example at the base of the teeth. While the blade and teeth of de-shedders are generally not sharp enough to cut or clip hair, they can nonetheless have edges sharp enough such that pulling the hair off manually creates risk of injury for the operator's fingers and hands. In addition, if the comb's teeth are buried under already removed hair, they cannot pick up and pull additional loose strands of hair as easily. Another group of currently available devices resemble a comb combined with a blade or razor at the base of the comb, which may or may not be sharp enough to cut for clipping in addition to de-shedding and de-tangling. An additional problem with some of these grooming devices that makes them less than optimal is that they present a safety hazard, with the animal to be groomed potentially exposed to the sharper elements. If the groomer is not careful, is grooming quickly, or is applying too much pressure to the comb, the sharp projecting teeth or blade edges at the base of the comb may pierce the skin resulting in a negative experience for the animal. This may make the animal afraid of the grooming device such that it is psychologically conditioned to avoid future grooming sessions.
It would be desirable to provide a self-ejecting, stripping type of grooming device, which can be operated to rapidly collect loose hair and eject the collected hair to allow the collected hair to fall to the ground, for rapidly grooming the hair, fur, or coat of animals or other objects, as well as human hair. It also would be desirable to provide such a grooming device with one or more sets of hair collecting elements and one or more hair dislodging, cover or scraper elements movably positioned adjacent to the one or more sets of hair collecting elements and configured to dislodge hair collected on the one or more sets of hair collecting elements when the one or more hair dislodging, cover or scraper elements are moved adjacent to the one or more sets hair collecting elements, with the one or more hair dislodging, cover or scraper elements biased to sheathe the one or more sets hair collecting elements, in order to uncover the one or more sets of hair collecting elements of the grooming device to a limited extent when the grooming device is pressed to engage hair to be groomed, and to automatically eject hair collected on the one or more sets of hair collecting elements when the one or more hair dislodging, cover or scraper elements are released. It also would be desirable to provide a handle shield that could optionally be used to protect the user, while still allowing auto-ejection of collected hair. It also would be desirable to provide an optional vacuum hose attachment to allow rapid removal of collected hair. It also would be desirable to provide a grooming device for removing and collecting loose hair from an animal having a furry coat or other object to be groomed. The present invention meets these and other needs.